Welcome to Term 3. We hope you are all well. While we finished up Term 2 feeling the warm glow after Student-Led Conferences, many of us were disappointed to find ourselves back to remote learning this term. Student-Led Conferences highlighted some significant growth and just how digitally competent we are. Students were able to lead discussions about their learning while sharing their screens, easily navigating Google Classroom and their hyperlinks. Their presentations were impressive.
It appears that we are feeling more confident with the staggered release of tasks each week, a refreshed Google Classroom for semester 2 and a new commitment to our Webex schedule that provides us all with much-needed connection and depth to our learning.
At this point, we are expanding on our inquiry, ‘Both locally and globally, people do not have equal access to resources and opportunities. There are things we can all do to help make a positive difference in the lives of others’. We will continue to focus our inquiries in our various inquiry groups and investigating people who have instigated change (Agents of Change). In the coming weeks, we are working to have guest speakers present to us online. We will focus our reading and viewing on Ted Talks, podcasts, and biographies which also leads us to analyse and consider presentation and public speaking skills; as well as the origin, purpose, value and limitations of what we read.
“…This blog/article was made to inform others about photos taken of the Sun, New vocabulary, and the primary mission of the Solar Orbiter Spacecraft. Where the blog was produced is unclear but the information is supplied by NASA & ESA. This article has helped me learn new and interesting things about the Sun and I have also expanded my vocabulary…” Frankie
“…This article was made as a way to raise awareness as to how the people living in Hong Kong are being treated. The writers are explaining the uniqueness of Hong Kong, in a sense, trying to preserve their way of life from the rest of the country. The writers seem to deliver their message across Australia almost as a cry of help for the people living in Hong Kong, a way to save them from Communist China and their strict way of life.
The article enables younger people to understand these issues without having to cut out half the story. This article assists people in understanding conflict and desire, helping them develop skills to persevere and see both sides of the story.
At the start of the article, there is a portion where a girl who lives in Hong Kong with her family explains everything she loves about it there, giving others even more of a reason to want to help Hong Kong in their battle against Communist China for rights and humane treatment.
I wonder what provoked the leaders of China to create such in-humane and unfair laws and containments against the country. I also wonder why no other previous leaders of China have thought to change those laws. Why aren’t any of the leaders of China standing up for their country’s freedom rights?…” Mabel
Term 3 also sees us begin a new wellbeing unit, Mind Matters. We are beginning our inquires by investigating the brain- its form, its functions, and its connection to the various systems and parts of the body. This revised understanding will help us understand our fight, flight and freeze responses to perceived threats and the reasons we act the way we do. In learning about the brain, you may find your family is inspired to continue the inquiry about other body systems and functions, or it may be a helpful segue into why we might be perceiving constant changes or some of our new Covid-19 practices as feelings of ‘threats’ and how this impacts us. We are recording our inquiry in an online journal (that students are also welcome to do in a real journal).
While much of our learning takes place online, we are also encouraging students to work offline with notebooks or materials, in which they can photograph and upload to their online journals or assignments. Families may also find it helpful to use music to identify the beginning and end of the day, as well as break times where possible…nothing like a good dance around the kitchen to lift our spirits!